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7 TV Series Finale Twists I'm Still Not Over

How I Met Your Mother is making all of us very nervous these days. It's definitely on the table that the Mother is actually dead. I feel like all the hemming and hawing over whether or not that's the case—not to mention all the checking of our metaphorical mirrors to see if there are any other bumps in the story we should look out for—is taking away a little from me enjoying the end of this show. There's fun in suspense, but there's stress too. And we're trained to look for TV series finale sucker punches since, let's face it, we've been burned before. I'm still smarting from this stuff I didn't see coming in the final chapters of some great shows.

The Sopranos' abrupt cut to black Let's just get this one out of the way. It wasn't a true plot twist—more like a moment that gave every viewer in America a nanosecond heart attack, thinking maybe their cable had cut out or...or...what? In any case, moments later we all realized: Nope, David Chase meant to cut the diner scene off there. And we were left with nothing but memories.

Whatever happened on Lost Simply put: Nobody likes a finale that makes her feel stupid, especially if she's devoted roughly as much time as it takes to get a Ph.D. to theorizing on the show. Lost's last ep left all its fans feeling like they had missed something (although, to be fair, I would rather change my identity and never return to my life than try to write the ending to Lost). There was a bright light and lots of vagueness, and in the end, the twist was that there weren't more satisfying twists.

Hank's death on Breaking Bad I'm cheating here, because I thought the Bad finale was perfect. But backtrack a few episodes to "Ozymandias"; I still can't believe Hank died. For so long, I believed the show wouldn't go there. Do I realize it had to happen? Yes. Do I understand that it infuses the show with more integrity? Of course. But am I still sad when I think of Walter Jr. growing up without his Uncle Hank? So sad.

The whole arrest/jail scenario on Seinfeld I've never loved a show so much and cared for its finale so little. Every time it's on, I rewatch it, trying to like it more. It's never gonna happen. I disliked the lack of New Yorkiness; I understood the underlying logic to the Good Samaritan antics, but I hated that the group went out on such a mean note. Court and jail meant that the episode felt slower than usual. And fading out on the gang behind bars felt so unnatural.

Lindsay becomes a deadhead on Freaks and Geeks My love of this show and Linda Cardellini is well-documented on this site. Conflicted good-girl Lindsay Weir blowing off a summer academic seminar to follow the Grateful Dead, though? That was a beat too far for me, in terms of a note to end on. As a random story line that would have found her dreading her hair before fleeing home? Great. As a finale? It didn't satisfy me. Then again, maybe nothing would have—this show really is the ultimate gone-too-soon.

Kevin's dad dies on The Wonder Years I'm not knocking this show's insertion of the Arnold patriarch's death—after all, it didn't happen in real time. But hearing the narrator speak of Kevin's father passing two years later (especially coming off an episode where they had argued) put me into an instant-bawl situation.

Why did I just watch that clip? My face is now a splotchy mess. Anyway, lastly...

Everyone dying on Dinosaurs Um, they ALL FROZE TO DEATH. I know there was an environmental lesson to be had in there, but it wasn't exactly front of mind for me and all the other kids whose jaws dropped as the series faded out on the family huddled together for warmth. And my parents had just finished de-traumatizing my brothers and me over the one where they pushed the old folks over a cliff! Everybody looooves the movie Ice Age now, but they forget that the Ice Age killed Dinosaurs.